As a toddler, pasar malams (night markets) were Stephen Suriyah’s playground. 

The street-like vibe, with its intense lights and smells, never failed to draw little Stephen in.  

He would roam the narrow alleys and see sweaty legs towering above him as the crowd queued for their late-night snacks.  

Unlike other kindergarten kids who were tucked into bed by 9pm, he had his freedom as his parents busied themselves with serving the hungry throngs of people their signature vadai – a tasty, fried, South Indian snack invitingly garnished with prawn. 

Little Stephen grew up roaming the grounds of pasar malams, where his parents sold vadai.

For decades, that was how his parents put him and his three siblings through school – by selling the humble vadai. 

Until one fateful day when Stephen’s father suddenly died from pneumonia.  

Young Stephen carried in the loving arms of his late father. Both of them grew to enjoy repairing things with their hands, leading to Stephen taking up a mechatronics course at polytechnic.

His mother valiantly continued serving up the fragrant fritters on her own at the stall and her teenagers would help out after school.  

At 18, Stephen had an inkling that they were poor, but he did not know the extent of their financial struggles until his mother showed up at his polytechnic one day. She had been called up by the school as his school fees of $1,200 a semester had not been paid.  

By then, Stephen was already falling behind in his mechatronics classes as he frequently skipped school to help his mum out at the stall.  

It made sense to him then to drop out of polytechnic, and lend a hand in the business. 

He knew his mother only tended to the stall to pay the bills and put food on the table; she was not business-minded enough to grow the business further.  

While waiting to be enlisted for National Service in 2009, he told his mum to give him a chance to try his hand at the business. 

Along with his sister and mother, Stephen was eyeing a prime spot in the upcoming Hari Raya bazaar at Woodlands, close to where they lived.  

“I still remember its rental cost of $8,000 a month. My mother, who was not even a believer then, was so desperate to get the stall for us that she wrote a letter to Jesus asking Him to help us get that particular stall. I found the letter on my computer table later on,” said Stephen, who came to Christ after his sister took him to a church camp at Smyrna Assembly. 

They managed to secure the stall for one month and that was how The Original Vadai started out – with one small portable stove. At that time, they did not even have stall banners or adequate cooking utensils.  

They did very well that month, and Stephen was convinced that the business had potential.

Yet when he completed National Service, he saw that his mum and sister were managing the stall well.

So he decided to take up a full-time job as a car mechanic instead.

It was only later that his mother persuaded him to return to their vadai stall.

Stephen (last row) decided to become a car mechanic after National Service, where he had picked up the skills.

Their family of three would travel from location to location several times a year, depending on which neighbourhood pasar malam they could rent a stall at. The peak period was Hari Raya.  

It had always been their dream to have a permanent storefront, as it was tiring to travel from place to place. Also, fans of their vadai could not track them after the pasar malams shut down.

The opportunity came in 2014 when they were invited to open a shop at the new Big Box shopping mall in Jurong.  

“As Christians, we pray and so we thought perhaps this opportunity was given by God, that it was time for us to expand,” said Stephen.  

They invested some $30,000 to $40,000 on renovations and moved into Big Box.  

Initially, the novelty of a new place pulled in the crowd. But, over time, the footfall petered out. Big Box was  acquired in 2020 and redeveloped into a business park.  

Stephen and his family invested more money to try to stay afloat but gave up in the end.  

“It left me thinking that perhaps my food is pasar malam food and not meant to go to malls,” said Stephen, who was managing the business solely with his mother then, as his sister was pregnant.

She and his brother-in-law, Reverend Samuel Gift Stephen, also known as “brother” to thousands of migrant workers, are now pastors at Smyrna Assembly. 

Stephen (in glasses) with his extended family members. His sister and his brother-in-law, Reverend Samuel Gift Stephen, also known as “brother” to thousands of migrant workers, are now pastors at Smyrna Assembly.

While driving his van to Big Box one day, Stephen recalled praying: “God, we have lost a lot of money. Why is this happening to us? Can You help us make things better?” 

Even as he was praying, his phone rang.  

It was an organiser of pasar malams whom he had frequently rented stall space from in the past.  

“How are you? Now never do pasar malam already ah? I got stall in Toa Payoh, you want? Come support lah,” the organiser told him over the phone.  

Stephen hesitated.  

His family had manned stalls in Toa Payoh before and sales had not been good.  

 “I don’t want, I go there sure die one,” he replied. The organiser urged him to give it another try, and offered him a lower rent of $80 a day.  

He figured that his mother and his friend could handle the shop at Big Box, while he did a one-man show at Toa Payoh.  

He did not expect much and wondered if he would make back his rental money.  

On the first day of the pasar malam in Toa Payoh, however, he was shocked to see long queues forming at his stall. Sales were so good on that first day that it was enough to cover the rent for all 16 days he had committed to the location.

That short stint enabled him to clear an outstanding two months’ instalment payments for his van and other expenses.  

“My faith grew. I knew it was God answering my prayer and, from then on, I began communicating with Him daily,” said Stephen.  

“When I start my day, I would talk to God about me going to do this and that. If I don’t have enough staff in my stall, I would ask Him to send me someone and my prayer would be answered,” he added.  

Finishing unfinished business

By 2016, his vadai business had found its footing and had gained sufficient ground to be a staple at pasar malams.

Stephen started thinking about heading back to school to finish his polytechnic education.  

“I was in the business line yet did not have proper knowledge about it. People would use certain business terms and I could not understand them. I wanted to learn something useful that could benefit my business,” said Stephen.  

So, instead of picking up his former course of mechatronics again, he decided to study business practice and management from Singapore Polytechnic.  

At the time, he had two staff helping him at the stall, so he could attend night classes four times a week.  

The course was supposed to run for two-and-a-half years. Little did he know he would end up taking way longer to complete it.  

The very next year, his business at the pasar malams took a huge hit.  

In 2017, there were false rumours of dog and cat meat being sold at the Geylang bazaar. As a result, customers stayed away.  

Hipster food such as churros and instagrammable bubble tea were also trending at the night markets then, putting a dent in the sales of traditional foods such as vadai.  

That year, he had invested a handsome sum, taking up a total of four stalls. As a result, he lost some $70,000.  

“The focus was on new food and it looked like the vadai business was dead,” said Stephen.  

When he was approached to take over a car workshop for only $10,000, he thought it was a deal worth exploring. He had studied a bit of engineering in school and his first job was in car mechanics, after all.  

Discouraged that his vadai business was not doing well, he took a gamble and took over the car workshop. He did not anticipate having to fork out more cash to upgrade the run-down place. By then, he had lost touch with some of the technical skills needed and had no clients.  

Others who used to operate car workshops approached him for partnerships. They told him they would refer their clients to his workshop for repairs and, in return, they would get a cut. Stephen recalled how he supplied the spare parts and labour, but the money from his partners was not channeled to him.  

The unpaid work amounted to $120,000, said Stephen. Together with rental costs, he accumulated debts of $200,000 just from running the car workshop, not to mention losses incurred from his pasar malam stalls.  

Setback after setback

Stephen blamed himself for making decisions that landed him in such a dilemma.

He did not answer calls on his handphone as the banks were hounding him for payment.

He was also too scared to check his letter box, fearing a lawyer’s letter for defaulting on rental payments for the car workshop.  

Overwhelmed by these seemingly insurmountable problems, Stephen withdrew from people. He did not even respond to his long-time girlfriend when she reached out to him.

Feeling utterly helpless, he started harbouring suicidal thoughts. 

During that period, a timely prophetic word conveyed to him by his sister strengthened him and gave him the courage he needed to face the future.  

She told him: “Someone gave me a prophecy for you. God is moulding you through the circumstances you are in now, so you need to stay strong and hold on.”  

The word spoke to Stephen.  

“I can’t blame Him for the consequences of decisions I myself had made. He knew all that was happening and I just have to trust His timing that He is working in the midst of it and not lose hope,” said Stephen.  

In his younger days, he decided to receive Jesus Christ as his Saviour, not because of any dramatic divine intervention, but because he felt the peace that God had brought to his life.     

“I decided to try Christianity and see how. I liked it. I noticed a difference and could feel God’s presence with me,” he said.  

After a long period of Stephen’s absence and silence, his girlfriend decided to look him up. She was ready to pick a fight with him for neglecting her. It was then that he broke down and confided in her about his state of affairs.  

Stephen and his then girlfriend, now wife, when they were dating.

“If not for her talking things through with me, I would have died. A lot of people looked up to me and I didn’t want to disappoint them,” said Stephen.  

With the support of his girlfriend, he decided to face his problems one by one. Taking things one step at a time helped tremendously.  

“I started by handing over the keys of my car workshop and closing it down,” he said.  

Remembering how his girlfriend had stuck by him through thick and thin for 12 years, Stephen decided to stop delaying marriage. He married her in 2018.  

After waiting for more than 12 years, Stephen’s girlfriend finally became his wife.

“I wanted to give her a better life before I married her. But I realised that life may not get better so the least I could do for her is to not let her wait too long,” said Stephen, who had continued the vadai business to try to clear his debts.   

Indeed, life after marriage was hardly a bed of roses.      

He was diagnosed with severe pneumonia shortly after and would cough incessantly for an hour at a stretch.  

“I was hospitalised and had to take multiple blood tests. I truly thought I was going to die,” said Stephen. The health scare gave him the impetus to stop smoking cigarettes when he used to smoke three packs a day.  

He recovered after taking six months of medication but his lungs are still scarred. 

A jigsaw revealed

On hindsight, Stephen now sees the jigsaw pieces of his life revealing a bigger picture.  

“In the past, I used to keep asking God to help me quit smoking because I was such a hard-core smoker. I thought I gone case already as I used to spend some $10,000 a year on cigarettes. But, in the end, I did manage to quit,” he marvelled. 

Stephen and his wife on a holiday.

He recalled another prayer he made in 2017 when things were going swimmingly for the vadai business: “God, if one day I am going to be successful, give me the ability to manage that success money-wise.”  

At the time he used to spend money indiscriminately, splurging on alcohol, cigarettes and branded goods. He did not see the need to save as he used to believe that he could earn back “tomorrow” what he spent today. 

The irony was that it was only when he hit rock bottom that he learnt how to better manage his money.

He began apportioning out his money for savings, business and expenses. He also saved what he would otherwise have spent on cigarettes.  

He ploughed on, especially for his studies which were significantly delayed by his financial and health troubles.

Each time he paused his studies and rejoined the next semester, he saw a new cohort of faces. It was a struggle to find partners for project work.  

God in the unexpected

When the Covid-19 pandemic took the world by surprise last year, Stephen almost gave his vadai business up.

When pasar malams could no longer operate, he took to doing home delivery. Yet the rules changed again and home delivery also had to cease.  

It was his mother who reminded him that “nothing is impossible”.  

Stephen has always shared a close bond with his mother.

He gave the business one last shot by applying for a permanent stall at Golden Mile Food Centre. He snagged it and opened its shutters in April last year. It turned out to be right smack during Circuit Breaker.

“I didn’t have the confidence to start a permanent stall again but, out of necessity, I was forced to go out of my comfort zone,” said Stephen.  

While dine-in was not allowed during Circuit Breaker, takeaways were allowed. Against all odds, his vadai business soared. There were snaking lines at his stall, with some queueing for up to an hour for his piping hot vadai.  

While other F&B businesses were biting the dust, his was expanding rapidly.

Last December, he opened another outlet at a coffeeshop in Joo Chiat and a third at Amoy Street Food Centre in March this year.

He now has 10 staff members.  

Food enthusiasts and critics, such as Makansutra’s KF Seetoh, have waxed lyrical about his vadai in reviews.  

Makansutra’s KF Seetoh visited Stephen and his mum at their former stall in Haig Road.

His stalls are doing so well that he will soon need to register for Goods and Services Tax (GST), meaning his taxable turnover exceeds $1 million.  

In the past year, he managed to finally pay off all the debts that were hanging over his head.  

However, Stephen was quick to add that God, in His sovereignty, did not grant all his prayer requests.  

He recalled how, recently, he particularly wanted a stall space at Haig Road Food Centre, where for a short time he had a stall.

When submitting his bid for tender, he decided that he would submit his bid at $5,189 as he was born in 1989. 

Lo and behold, an acquaintance who won the bid for the stall later told him that he had bid just $100 more: $5,289.  

“He told me the story of how he had strangely intended to bid exactly the same figure of $5,189 but was distracted by something when submitting the figure and, in the end, he made a mistake and submitted $5,289 instead,” said Stephen.  

“It was then that I knew that God had an active hand in my business, even to the extent of determining its locations,” he said.  

The next certificate 

Knowing that God is in control has given him a great sense of liberation.  

“I don’t work so hard now. I used to work such long hours. But now, I pray. If it is His will, things will happen,” said Stephen. 

“What I have achieved is definitely not because of myself. I am not a smart businessman. I can’t explain how so many things came about. But I know that God is there for me and will take care of me.”  

His latest source of pride is in receiving his Diploma in Business Practice from Singapore Polytechnic in the mail. After five years (the maximum allowed), he has finally completed what he could not finish 15 years ago.  

In a post he wrote on Facebook, which went viral, he said: “Many asked me why was I even wasting time studying since I’m already a ‘towkay’. This certificate is not going to land me a job.

“It’s for knowledge and self-satisfaction. Those struggling right now, just remember this … ‘Never say Die!’ I thank God for what he has done and is doing. To God be the Glory!” 

Are there any more courses he wishes to study after this, this reporter asked.  

He nodded and indicated that he has been looking at some from the Singapore University of Social Sciences.  

Then, looking all serious, he lifted his gaze and said he would now focus on just one certificate: “Birth certificate. We are trying for a child!”   

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